


You are my cup of style

by lilymcenvy



Category: Celtic Thunder (Band)
Genre: AU, Blogging, F/M, Fashion & Couture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 20:25:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6674326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilymcenvy/pseuds/lilymcenvy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She lost the one person she cared the most about. The more she misses her, the more she fights for all her dreams to come true.<br/>Will she ever be completely happy again or will that big hole in her heart remain empty for the rest of her days?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She's been looking to her closet for maybe a half an hour now and she still doesn't have any idea what to wear for tonight's party.  
"Damn it!" she curses for herself and goes for her phone to call for help.  
Her best friend Taylor picks it up right away and without even saying hello she goes: "Oh my god, please tell me what to wear! Otherwise I'm not going! And I'm not even joking."  
And Lily just laughs: "Well, sorry, babe... I was actually calling you to ask you what you're wearing so I'd know what to choose."  
"Oh, Christ, Lil'! We are so bad at this!" Taylor laughs too.  
"Yeah, but you know why, right?"  
"Duh! We just have too many clothes!" she says and they both laugh.  
"Alright! Let's think! Are we gonna dance?"  
"Do you really have to ask?"  
"Okay. Of course... So, we're looking for something we can dance in."  
"Oh my god, Lily, please wear that new black dress! You're gonna kill it!" Taylor says.  
"I don't know, T. They're pretty short, do you think it's gonna go well with dancing?"  
"Of course it will. You're gonna look amazing!"  
"Okay then. What about you?"  
"I have no freaking idea, hon'," she sounds desperate.  
"What about that new tank top you loved so much?"  
"Oh, damn it! I totally forgot I have it! That's it, I'm wearing it!"  
It's quiet for a bit as Taylor's obviously looking for the top.  
"But what should I wear it with?" she asks then and Lily just laughs: "I don't know, babe. Black skirt maybe?"  
"Yeah, that'll do! You're my fashion miracle!"  
"And you're mine!"  
"I'll call girls to make sure they won't wear something similar."  
"Good idea. Thanks."  
"What time you'll arrive at Josh's anyway?"  
"No idea, T. You know me, it's gonna take ages till I get ready."  
"Same here," Taylor says and they both laugh.  
"Okay. So see you there, I guess."  
"For sure!"  
"Can't wait! Bye for now, babe."  
"Bye-bye, Lil'."  
They hang up and Lily heads for the bathroom.  
***  
It's a few minutes after eight when she's arriving at the building where her friend Josh's apartment is situated. She's wearing black cocktail dress, beige heels and Chanel clutch in the same colour as the heels.  
In a minute she's already on the second floor, knocking on the door.  
The door opens and Josh's standing there, smiling ear to ear.  
"Hello, Lil' bunny!" he says and she laughs because only Josh calls her like that and she loves it. They've known each other since they were little kids and she's always so happy to see him. They never go more than two days without texting or calling each other.  
"Hi, baby boy!" she says with a big smile as always. He's just a month younger than her and she never forgets to remind him.  
She gives him a long hug and he invites her inside.  
The flat is already full of people, all of them drinking, some of them dancing as the music is already playing.  
"Are the girls here?" Lily asks Josh as they're making their way through the crowd into the kitchen.  
"No, you're actually the first fashion babe to arrive... And I'm kinda surprised you're here so soon. It's not something I'm used to with you," he laughs.  
"To be honest, I surprised myself too."  
"I wanna introduce you to somebody, actually. There are some new people... New guys," he winks at her.  
"Alright! I'm totally okay with that," she laughs.  
"A friend of mine just moved to The Big Apple from Ireland and brought two friends with him. Hope it's okay I've invited them tonight," Josh says.  
"Of course. Can't wait to meet them. Irish lads are the best!" she winks at him and laughs.  
"I had a feeling you'll get excited when you hear the Ireland part," he laughs too and they both step into the kitchen.  
Three guys are standing by the counter in the centre of the room, talking, each with a bottle of beer in one hand.  
"What's up, guys? You're having fun?" Josh asks them. They all give him a big smile and a nod.  
"Alright, then," Josh continues, "I'd like to introduce you to somebody," he exchanges a look with Lil, "This is a very good friend of mine, Lily. She's one of the four famous fashion babes I told you about earlier. She's the best one, though."  
"Oh, shut up, Josh!" she laughs.  
"So you're the reason of this party?" a guy with longer blond hair and a cute Irish accent says with a smile.  
"I guess... But I don't really think Josh needs a reason to host a drinking party. He just usually BLAMES someone or something when he gets drunk."  
"What?! Shut up!" Josh gives her a look with fake anger and guys laugh at that.  
"Well, anyway..." he says then, "The blondie over there is Keith. We met like maybe a year ago in Cali on the surf camp. And these two are his pals. And I'm sorry, I don't think I remember their names, so let's just say they're gonna introduce themselves to you," he says with a smile.  
"You're so rude, Josh!" she laughs.  
"I know! That's why you love me so much!" he laughs with her and kisses her on the cheek.  
"You wish!" she slaps his shoulder.  
"Gotta go check some stuff, Lil' bunny. So just make sure guys are having fun, 'kay?!" he winks at her with a strange smile and before she can say anything he disappears in the crowd.  
"What an asshole!" she shakes her head in disbelieve but laughs anyway.  
"You don't get bored with him, huh?" Keith laughs.  
"Not a chance! Well, anyway... Nice to meet you," she smiles at him and they shake hands.  
"My pleasure," he says with a cute smile.  
Then she looks at the guy standing next to Keith. He's got short black hair, same angel-like blue eyes as Keith and adorable smile. She's guessing he's a bit older that Keith but definitely still in his 20s.  
"Hello," she says to him with a smile.  
"Hi, I'm Ryan," he reaches his hand to her.  
"Good to meet you, Ryan," she shakes his hand.  
And then she turns her attention to the third guy. He's definitely oldest of the three of them. He's tall, bold and he's giving her a smile that makes her knees weak. He has a spark in his blue eyes that fascinates her and she stares at him probably longer then she should.   
"Hello," he says after few silent seconds with a thick accent that's not really Irish which confuses her a little.  
"Well, hi there," she says quickly and shakes her head to get herself back to reality.  
"Name's George. Pleasure to meet you," he says offering her his hand to shake which she doesn't let go of for a few more seconds.  
"What are you girls celebrating anyway?" Keith asks her then.  
"It's more like a farewell party," she smiles as she heads for a fridge to find something to drink. She opts for vodka with strawberry juice.  
"You're moving somewhere?" George asks curiously. She's trying to identify his accent so she's quiet for a bit. Which doesn't look too weird just because she's mixing her drink.  
Then she shakes her head: "No, we're just going to Europe for a month," she sips from her drink.  
"Wow, that sounds exciting!" George says and by that time Lily already feels like it's just the two of them in the room. She stands next to him, with her drink on the counter in front of her, right next to George's bottle of beer.  
"It is super exciting!" she nods.  
"Where exactly are you going?" he asks.  
"Paris for a week, then London for a week, the third week we'll be in Milan, then two days in Rome and a week in Cannes."  
"Wow! That's amazing! Must have cost a fortune, though."  
"Not really. The most of it is actually paid by our sponsors. We're paying just for those two days in Rome. That's our actual holiday, the rest is just work."  
"Well, that's not so exciting, then," he laughs.  
"Oh, it is. For us it is! A whole month with fashion, famous models and fashion designers and then film festival in Cannes with all the actors and Hollywood people. It's beyond exciting!"  
"It's almost a miracle when somebody's doing something that's also their hobby."  
"I know. I'm living my dream."  
"Good for you! Let's drink on that," he smiles and they clink with their drinks before sipping from them, looking into each other's eyes.  
Before either of them can say anything else, they hear the crowd cheering loudly.  
"Yeah, girls arrive," Lily says with a happy smile.  
In a few seconds, all three of her fellow bloggers appears in the kitchen. They spot Lily right away and go give her a hug and say hello.  
"Hello, hon'," Taylor gives her a big smile, "I told you, you're gonna kill it in this," she points at Lily's dress.  
"Thanks, babe. You don't look bad either," she smiles.  
"Well, thank you," Taylor laughs, "I see you've already found the company," she says looking at George. Lily prays that she's not gonna start blushing.  
"I'm George, nice to meet you," he says with an adorable smile and reaches his hand to Taylor.  
"Hello, George. I'm Taylor and it's nice to meet you," she shakes his hand, "So... These are your friends?" she asks him, looking at Keith and Ryan.  
"Yes, they are."  
"I like the blond one," Taylor whispers, "I think I'm gonna go talk to him," she smiles, "We'll talk later, Lily, okay?"  
"Sure thing, T. Have fun," she winks at her and when Taylor goes over to Keith, she just laughs.  
By that time, Lily's two other friends, Rose and Allison, are already talking with Ryan like they've known each other for years so she's alone with George. She can't complain, though.  
"I like Taylor. She's funny," George says with an amused smile.  
"Well, she's kinda crazy... I adore her," Lily laughs.  
Then they're quiet for a second, both sip from their drinks.  
"I bet you haven't expected to get stuck with somebody like me on this party, huh?" he says then.  
"What are you talking about?! I like talking to you!" she smiles and looks into his eyes.  
"You do?" he gives her a little shy smile but it just looks so damn cute that Lily's heart skips a beat.  
She nods, still looking deep into his eyes.  
"Hey, you two lovebirds!" Josh shouts at them from the edge of the crowd, they both look at him, "Come on! Let's dance!" he says and disappears in the crowd again.  
"You wanna dance?" Lily turns back to George.  
"Not really... I'm not very good at that," he laughs, "But go, don't worry, I'll be alright."  
"Oh, nonsense!" she smiles and shakes her head, "I won't leave you. I don't fancy dancing in high heels anyway."  
"I don't really get how you can even just stand in those," he looks down on her shoes.  
"It's not ease, trust me!" she laughs.  
"Well, if it helps..." then he leans in and whispers into her ear: "You look amazing!"  
"Thank you," she says and now she knows she's definitely blushing.  
"But we can go sit somewhere, if you want," he says with a smile. He's so close, she can feel his breath on her cheek, and her heart is beating so fast.  
"Maybe I know the perfect place," she whispers and give him a mysterious smile.  
"Lead the way!"  
She just smiles and takes his hand and heads for the door. They go through the crowd quite smoothly despite the fact that there's a lot of people and everybody's dancing, but they manage. Before they can disappear in the hallway, Lily catches Taylor looking at her from the crowd, she seems surprised seeing Lily's already leaving but then she notices George and how Lily's holding his hand, and she gives Lily a huge smile and winks at her. Lily smiles too and winks back at Taylor. Then she and George are out of the door.  
She leads him to the elevator and they wait quietly before the door opens and they get in. She pushes the button for the last floor, the door closes and the elevator starts moving. She realises that she's still holding his hand but decides not to let go for a little longer.  
When they get out from the elevator on the last floor, she heads for the door leading to the staircase to the roof. She notices George's smiling as he's probably already realised where they're going.  
They step out to the roof. It's already dark. The New York City skyline is in front of them in its full extraordinary beauty.  
"Wow!" George breaths out as the door quietly closes behind them.  
"I know," she whispers and heads for a wooden bench a few meters from the edge of the roof.  
He follows her and they both sit down.  
She takes a deep breath. It's a warm night and the air is so fresh up here. He looks at her and smile.  
"I'm gonna miss New York," she says.  
"You'll be back in no time."  
"I know," she turns to him and their eyes meet. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks.  
"I just... I dunno. I wanted to remember you," he whispers.  
"You think you won't see me again?"  
"Not for a month."  
"Well... I'm leaving in two days."  
And he just gives her a huge happy smile like she'd just give him the best gift he's ever received.  
Then they both look at the skyline in front of them and they're quiet for a moment, listening to the sounds of the city beneath them.  
"Aren't ya cold?" he asks her out of the sudden and before she can even answer he puts one arm around her shoulders and pulls her closer.  
"Oh, you're so sneaky," she laughs, "I like that!" she says as she puts her hand on his thigh, "And no... I'm okay. It's quite a warm night."  
"Alright. But just to be sure, you know... Don't want you to get a cold or something before your trip to Europe," he laughs quietly into her ear. And of course, she's not cold. How could she be? When this guy is sitting right next to her, pulling her so close that she can feel his warm breath on her skin, his fingers gently rubbing her shoulder... Her blood is basically boiling at this moment.  
"So..." she whispers, desperately trying to pull herself together and act normal, "Josh told me you guys moved here from Ireland," she tries to start a conversation.  
"Oh, yeah, we did... Let's say, we're trying to fulfil our American dream," he smiles but Lily notices a little bit of disappointment in his eyes.  
"And what's your American dream?" she asks curiously.  
"Music... My dream's always been music."  
"Wow, that's amazing! You... Seem kinda sad about it, though."  
"Yeah, well... It's been almost two months since I came here and... I'm starting to realise that maybe... It's not gonna happen... Like ever."  
"Oh, don't say that!" she says, gently rubbing his thigh with her thumb, "There's always hope. And you've come too far to just give up, right?"  
He gives her a sad look, his eyes look like they're filled with tears. And in that moment her heart just breaks in half.  
"I just... Want it so bad!" he whispers and his voice breaks.  
"Then you just can't give up. You need to fight for it. And... It's gonna pay off, you'll see... If something is meant to be, it's gonna happen. You will succeed."  
"I don't know. I'm just... Scared," he sighs.  
"Of course you are. It's normal to be scared. But that fear can't stop you... What are you scared of anyway?"  
He's quiet for a moment, hesitating whether to tell her or not like it's his biggest secret. Lily just waits.  
"I'm scared... That..." he sighs, "I'm not good enough," he looks at her with so much sadness in his eyes.  
"Oh," she whispers. She doesn't know what else to say. He caught her off guard.  
"What?" for a moment he looks so scared. Like he thinks she won't talk to him anymore.  
"I just... Didn't expect you to say something like that," she says, still not completely sure he really meant it.  
"Why?" he wonders.  
"You just... From the very first moment I saw you... You looked so confident."  
"Oh... Well, I try to look confident... I'm really not, though," he shakes his head.  
"That's crazy! Why do you think that?"  
He shrugs: "I've never studied music... While Keith was in school, learning all the different techniques, I was working in the factory to save money to buy a guitar so I could learn to play on my own."  
"Well... A wise man once said 'We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school'."  
"Who said that?"  
"Bruce Springsteen... In his song No Surrender," she smiles, "Great song! You should listen to it sometimes... Anyway... What I wanted to say is that some things can't be taught in school. And music is one of those things. It's not about this..." she points at his head, "It's about this!" she gently touches his chest, "When your heart's in it, you can win it!" she smiles. She can feel how his chest rises and falls how he breathes, she can feel his heartbeat. She rests her hand there, touching him with just her fingertips. She's looking into his eyes, feeling like she's gonna drown in them.  
He doesn't say a word but smiles.  
"Just start believing in yourself, okay?!"   
"How come YOU believe in me so much?" he asks.  
She shrugs: "I just do," she says with a smile.  
Then he puts a hand over hers at his chest and starts rubbing it with his thumb: "I know I said I'm not very good at it... But would you risk it... And dance with me?"  
"Here?"  
"The whole dancefloor is just for us!" he smiles.  
"If I say yes, will you sing?"  
He laughs and leans in to whisper into her ear: "I will... For you!"  
Her heart literally just does a backflip in her chest. She just smiles: "Okay then."  
He gets up from the bench and reaches one hand to her. She grabs it and gets up too. They go a few steps away to have more space and he pulls her closer. For a moment they just stand there, looking into each other's eyes. He's smiling but she's too nervous to do that. Her heart's running a marathon right now and her knees are shaking - not a good thing when you wanna dance. She's trying so hard to calm down, but it's just impossible when he's so damn close!  
"What do you want me to sing?" he asks when he puts a hand (so low!) on her back.  
"Surprise me," she whispers and puts one arm around his neck.  
He smiles and leans in so he can sing into her ear. She closes her eyes and they start dancing. With just a few first words she knows what he's singing.  _Your Song_ by Elton John - one of her all-time favourite.  
And she just gets so completely lost in the moment."  
" _... I hope you don't mind that I put down in words how wonderful life is while you're in the world,_ " he finishes singing but she just can't make herself to look at him. She keeps her head down, her eyes closed. They stop dancing.   
He pulls away a bit and takes her chin into his hand to pull her head up to see her face.  
"Are you crying?" he asks quietly, with worries in his voice.  
She opens her eyes and gives him a teary look: "Maybe," she whispers with a little smile. He's just looking at her, doesn't know what to say.  
"I'm sorry," she says, shaking her head, "That song just means a lot to me. And brings up a lot of things... Thank you for singing it. You're such an amazing singer! How can you doubt yourself?!"  
He shrugs: "That's just what I do... And... I'm sorry I made you cry."  
"Please, don't apologize for that," she smiles. He runs his thumb across her cheek to wipe a tear away and then he smiles too: "Let's sit again," he says and they get back to the bench.  
They sit down and this time she automatically snuggle up at his side as he puts one arm around her shoulders.  
"So what do you think? Can I sing?" he asks.  
"Oh my god! Of course you can sing!" she laughs.  
"Okay. I will trust you then."  
"You need to trust yourself."  
"I know... But sometimes I just... What if I'm just too old for that?!"  
"Oh, that's just bullshit," she laughs and gently slaps his thigh.  
"What? You don't even know how old I am," he says but laughs too.  
"So? I don't need to know. Nobody can ever be too old for making their dreams come true."  
"Yeah?! You're like... What? Seventeen? And you're already the best in what you're doing."  
"Well, thank you very much," she laughs again, "You really think I'm seventeen?"  
"You're not? Then eighteen maybe?" he asks with a smile.  
"That's so kind of you! But you might have noticed that I was drinking vodka earlier, so I'm not really that young. I'm actually 23. When I was seventeen I started blogging actually."  
"Wow, you look so much younger!"  
"Thank you. To be honest, I still have to show my ID when I'm in a bar."  
"No wonder! But still... You were so young when you started working on archiving your dream."  
"Yeah. But it doesn't mean that I've archived all my goals. I've had to overcome a lot of obstacles and a lot of them is still ahead. No matter the age you just have to keep fighting... Keep trying! You can't give up. You never know what's gonna happen... Maybe tomorrow, maybe in a week, maybe in a month... When you least expect it... It's gonna happen. It will work out for you!"  
"I sure hope so," he sighs.  
"Look, Georgie! There are no failures in life... Because every time you don't succeed in something, it should just push you to try more, to work even harder!"  
"Well, I've got a lot of experience with failures!" he says sarcastically and she just sighs. She wants him to trust her, to believe he can do it... But she's running out of ideas... She doesn't know what to say anymore.  
"I'm sorry," he says, shaking his head, "I'm not a good companion tonight. I'm sorry for bringing you down and ruining your evening."  
"Please, stop!" she says and he looks at her, "You're such a great guy, Georgie! Don't you ever think anything less than that about yourself, okay? And please... Don't ever give up!"  
After a few seconds, he nods.  
"Promise!"  
"I promise! I won't give up!" And she knows she can trust him, that he really means it.  
"I've come a long way to just give up now, anyway," he says then.  
"That's the attitude!" she smiles. It's so good to see him happy again. The spark is back in his eyes.  
"I didn't fly over the ocean for nothing, right?" he laughs.  
"True!" she laughs with him, "It must have been hard to leave your home," she says with a sympathetic smile.  
He shrugs: "Going to America wasn't that hard... I've left my real home three years ago, actually."  
"Oh, really? How come?"  
"I originally come from Scotland, I was born in Glasgow, I lived there all my life. But three years ago I got divorced. And it was a nasty kind of divorce... So I just moved to Dublin, met guys, and now we're all here," that's when she realises where his accent comes from.  
"That's so cool! I always wanted to visit Scotland."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah! And even more so after I visited Ireland last year."  
"You've been in Ireland, huh?"  
She nods: "I'd always wanted to go there and last year I got lucky and I actually cooperated with an Irish fashion brand and I had to go for a business trip to Dublin. So I took my family with me and after a week in Dublin, me and my brother just packed our backpacks and went for a bit of a road trip through the country... And it was like the best holiday I've ever had!"  
"Wow! You travel a lot, huh?"  
"I do! I love traveling. It's definitely the best part of my job."  
"You're so lucky!" he says with a smile.  
"I know, I feel so blessed! Sometimes I still can't believe it, though! Like... How did all of this happen?" she laughs.  
"You deserve all of that! You work hard for it! And can I just say... You're such an amazing human being," he almost whispers the end of the sentence.  
"You know me for maybe just an hour... How can you be so sure?"  
"Because... In that hour you helped me more than people I've known for years."  
"Well... I'm glad I could have helped," she smiles shyly. She's so nervous in that moment, doesn't even know why... Maybe because he's so close and he's looking deep into her eyes, she almost forgets to breathe. For a second she thinks he's gonna kiss her. And he probably thinks the same because after a while he just takes a deep breath and looks at the city skyline like he'd just realise it's not a good idea. But she just can't look away. She can see that inner fight with his conscience in his face. She just keeps watching him.  
After a few more quiet seconds, it's like he'd finally find enough courage to look at her again. She would swear there's fear in his eyes, she gives him a little smile.  
And then it happens. That magical moment! The moment when her life becomes a romantic movie. The moment when her life becomes a fairy-tale. It's just a few seconds but it feels like eternity. Like the whole world would just stop because of them. He's getting closer, she's drowning in his eyes. She bites on her bottom lip and he notices. He raises one eyebrow and smiles. He's so close she can feel his breath on her lips. Then the both of them close their eyes and that's when their lips touch. And she feels like she'd been waiting on this moment her whole life... She's actually surprised how soft his lips are. He kisses her gently and slowly... They have all the time they want. Her head is spinning. Her heart is running a million miles per hour in her chest. She can feel his hand in her hair and smiles into the kiss.  
When their lips part and he pulls away a little bit, he's smiling.  
"You're such a good kisser, Georgie!" she says and licks her lips.  
"And why does it surprise you?" he asks and laughs.  
"You looked so innocent," she says jokingly.  
"I see," he whispers but the smile disappears from his face. He gives her a strange look like he'd be thinking about something. She just quietly waits and watches him. When he sighs and looks down, she feels like her heart would stop. Then he slightly shakes his head and she can't take it anymore: "What's goin on?" she asks with worries in her voice.  
"I don't think it was a good idea," he says quietly.  
"What? Why?" she pulls away. She didn't expect him to say something like that.  
"You're leaving for a month now and it's just..."  
"Bullshit!" she says as he looks like he's just making excuses.  
He sighs again: "Okay... I just... Why would you want to be with someone who's so old and such a looser?! That's just..." he can't say anything else as she just kisses him again, holding his face with both of her hands. Before she pulls away, she gently bites his bottom lip and as he quietly moans at that, she knows she's won him over. She looks into his eyes, still holding his face. He smiles.  
"Why don't you let me decide who I wanna be with?" she says.  
He nods and she can feel his fingertips gently touching the bare skin on her knee, leaving her craving for more.  
"You taste like strawberries," he whispers and the way he said it just leaves her breathless.  
"Yeah? You taste like beer," she laughs.  
"Sorry."  
"I like it," she says as she kisses him again. She just can't get enough of his lips. When she licks his upper lip, his fingers trail higher on her thigh, slightly lifting the hem of her dress. She feels like there is a million butterflies in her guts. If her hands weren't resting on his face, they probably would be shaking. She runs her thumb across his jaw and intends to lick his lip again. But instead she meets with his tongue and it goes like an electric shock through her whole body.   
When their lips part she keeps her eyes closed. She just smiles and rests her forehead against his temple. Even only smelling his cologne is turning her on. He's playing with her hair.  
"Can I ask you a favour?" she whispers.  
"Anything!" he says, running his fingers across her thigh.  
"Would you stop saying you're old?" she says and looks into his eyes.  
He laughs quietly: "Well... I'm 32, so..."  
"So what? You think you're old when you're just 32?"  
He shrugs: "I'm not young."  
"Well... You are to me!" she whispers and softly kisses him on the cheek.  
"Oh, you're so sweet!" he smiles, "See... I have a dilemma now..."  
"Why is that?"  
"I'd like to know so many things about you, but on the other side... I just wanna kiss you again," he looks down on her lips.  
"Well, that's a dilemma!" she laughs.  
"I know," he whispers.  
Before she can say anything, her phone starts ringing in her clutch: "Oh, sorry," she says as she takes it out to answer the call. It's Taylor.  
"Hey T. What's up?"  
"Hey, Lil', just wanted to ask if you're coming back to the party?"  
"Am I coming back to the party?" she repeats as she's actually asking George. He shakes his head, smiles and winks at her "Probably not," she answers Taylor's question and smiles back at him.  
"Where are you anyway?" Taylor asks, "You're with that guy?" she shoot another question.  
"Yeah, I'm with George," Lily laughs.  
"Oh, you lucky bastard! Hope I'm not interrupting something."  
"Actually, you are."  
"Oh, my... I'm sorry," she chuckles.  
"Where is she?" Lily can hear Josh shouting in the background.  
"Where are you, babe?" Taylor repeats.  
Lily thinks for a second. She's a little bit afraid to tell them, especially Josh. She knows him, she knows what he's capable of, he's kinda crazy sometimes... And she doesn't want him to ruin the moment she's having with George.  
But then she decides to put a little faith in him and says: "We're on the roof."  
And immediately she regrets saying that as she hears Josh yelling: "Of course, she's on the roof. Listen up, everyone! We're moving this party to the roof!" then she hears everyone cheering and she's so angry at herself.  
"I'm sorry," she almost can't hear Taylor through the noise in background. She just sighs and hangs up.  
"What's going on?" George asks.  
"I think everyone's coming here," she says with a disappointment in her voice.  
But he just laughs: "At least, you'll spent some time with your friends too... Not just me."  
"But... I kinda like being here just with you," she smiles.  
"Don't worry, I'll make it up to you later," he winks at her.  
"You better!" she says and kisses him.  
At that moment the door from the staircase opens and in a minute the roof is full of people.   
She looks into his eyes and sighs. He just gives her a smile.  
They never get a chance to say anything else to each other as Josh just appears there out of the blue and takes Lily's hand. And with a quick "I'm sorry I've got to steal her from you," he drags her away.  
She shots George one last look over her shoulder before she's surrounded by people and can't see him anymore. Josh leads her to a group of their friends, somebody hands her a bottle of beer and they all just start talking and drinking and dancing and simply having fun.  
But George is always on her mind. She sees him in the crowd a few times during the night. He's always talking with someone and doesn't see her. But she sees him and smiles every time she notices him. She would love to go talk to him again but there is just so many people that want to talk to her and it seems rude to her to just leave in the middle of a conversation.  
Around midnight she's a bit tipsy. She's had a few bottles of beer and a few shots. She's not drunk but she laughs a lot. She knows she should stop drinking at that point because only one drink could get her really drunk and she doesn't want that. She wants to remember...

 


	2. Chapter 2

She opens her eyes. It takes her a little while to realize where she is and what’s going on. She’s in Josh’s bedroom, lying in his bed. She turns her head to see that Josh is actually still sleeping next to her. She sits up and looks around. There is two more people in the bed a few more sleeping on the ground. She laughs quietly.

She slept in her dress but it actually doesn’t look that bad considering she just slept in the bed with three other people.

She gets up from bed, slips into her shoes that are lying by the bed, grabs her clutch from the ground too and goes to the bathroom. She tries to be as quiet as possible so she wouldn’t wake anybody. When she closes the door behind her, she heads for the sink to wash her face. As she does that, she looks into the mirror. And then…

She remembers… She remembers the pair of blue, kind eyes, the cute smile, the gentle touch, the sweet kisses… She remembers George. The whole evening runs through her mind.

And in that moment she hates herself so much for not finding him in the crowd, for not talking to him again, for not asking for his phone number...

“You’re so stupid!” she whispers for herself and shakes her head to fight off the tears.

Then she leaves the bathroom and heads for the living room. There’s so many people sleeping on the floor. She has to laugh quietly as she’s leaving the flat, being really careful to make sure she wouldn’t step at anyone. She guesses that all three of her fellow bloggers are there somewhere but she just doesn’t feel like looking for them.

She leaves the flat, gets into the elevator and goes to the roof. She just… Has to go there.

The roof is empty. The city is gold as the sun is just rising on the east. She smiles. The air is so fresh. She goes to stand just a couple of meters from the edge of the roof and watches the city below.

“You fucked this up,” she curses quietly as the wind is playing with her hair.

She can feel tears making their way into her eyes and she shakes her head. She takes a deep breath. Nothing she can do about it. She better go home. She turns around to leave and when she looks up from her feet, she freezes.

“Oh,” is all she manages to say when she sees him standing there.

“Morning,” he says and gives her that cute smile she remembers so well.

“Morning,” she whispers, “What are you doing here? I thought you’ve left already.”

He shakes his head: “I couldn’t… I was hoping I get a chance to talk to you again. I saw you leaving the flat so I kinda followed you.”  
“I’m glad you did,” she smiles, “Sorry I didn’t make more time for you yesterday.”

“It’s totally okay. Looked like you had fun,” he laughs quietly.

“Oh, god,” she shakes her head in disbelieve. She feels embarrassment getting warm on her cheeks.

“Come here, beauty!” he says, reaching one hand to her. She makes a few steps ahead and takes his hand. He pulls her closer, into his arms, holding her tight. They look into each other’s eyes. She’s so happy in that moment. After thinking she’s never gonna see him again, to be in his arms now… She’s almost afraid she’s dreaming.

“So… What do you wanna do now?” he asks.

“Now… I wanna kiss you,” she whispers.

“That’s a good plan, I’d say,” he smiles and kisses her. And oh, how much she missed those lips.

“Now… How much have you seen of New York?” she asks when their lips part.

“Basically nothing. I was working… Or trying to work, all the time,” he says with a little bit of sadness in his voice.

“Well, you’re not working today… And I’m gonna show you the city,” she winks at him, “C’mon!” she takes his hand and they leave the roof.

“No hangover, huh?” he asks in the elevator.

She laughs: “Not really. I wasn’t that drunk!”

“You wasn’t?” he asks with an amused smile.

“What? What did you see?” she’s almost afraid of the answer.

He laughs: “Nothing bad. You were just dancing a lot.”

“No, I was not!”

“Oh, yes, you were!”

“Oh my god!” she feels her cheeks getting warmer.

“Don’t worry, I really enjoyed what I saw,” he gives her a smile and winks at her. Then he leans in to kiss her.

“You’re so bad, Georgie!” she laughs when he pulls away and slaps his shoulder.

Then they get out from the elevator and leave the building.

It’s a warm morning, sun is shining, and streets are already full of people. They walk hand in hand, she leads them in the direction of the Central Park.

“So what’s the plan?” he asks.

“First of all… We’re gonna eat something for a breakfast. Then we’ll see.”

“Oh, you’re so amazing!” he says with a happy smile and kisses her on the temple.

“Stop being so sweet!” she laughs.

“Never!” he shakes his head.

“Well, I won’t complain.”

She takes him into her favourite café just by the Central Park. It’s quite small, modern but still cosy. She always comes here, she even knows the owner already. Mike, man in his 30s, opened up his business a few years back and just on her first visit Lily fell in love with this place. She’s done a few photoshoot in the café then and that’s brought new customers to Mike so from time to time she’s got breakfast or just a coffee on his treat.

When she and George walk in, Mike’s behind the counter and smiles as soon as he sees Lily. Then he notices George and shoots Lily a curious look. She just smiles back and winks at him. Then she heads for her usual table in the corner of the room, just by the window with a view to the park.

They sit down and Mike’s there right away: “Morning, Lily. How’re you doing today?”

“Really good, Mickey,” she smiles, “This is George. Georgie, this is Mike, he owns this place.”

“Good to meet you, sir,” Mike says with a little nod.

“My pleasure,” George smiles, “This place looks amazing!”

“Thank you. It’s partly because of Lily,” he smiles at her.

“Oh, please!” she laughs.

“So… Are you eating, guys?”

“Yep, we would love to,” she nods.

“I guess it’s gonna be the usual for you, right?” he smiles at Lily.

“Of course!” she laughs.

“And for you, George?”

“Georgie’s from Scotland, Mike, so…” Lily answers for him.

“Oh, alright, then it’s one Scottish breakfast coming for you,” he nods.

“Okay,” George laughs.

“I’m gonna be right back, guys,” Mike smiles and walks away.

“Scottish breakfast, huh?” he says.

“Yeah, it’s really good, don’t worry, you’re gonna love it.”

“What are you having?”

“The French one.”

“Hm, fancy!”

She laughs:  “Well, that’s me.”

“How come you’re the reason this place’s good, as Mike said?” he asks curiously.

“Oh, he just exaggerates!”

“C’mon, don’t be shy, tell me,” he smiles and she laughs: “Alright… Well… When I came here for the first time it was just a few days after Mike opened it actually. And I just loved it here! So I wrote about it on the blog and after some time of coming here like maybe every second day, I got to know Mike and he let me do some photoshooting here. And more people started coming and he thinks it was my fault. Though I think it’s just because this place is so cool!”  
“Well, I think you helped a bit,” he smiles, “But it really looks nice here.”

“Wait till you taste the food!”

“So what are we gonna do today?” he asks and reaches over the table to hold her hand.

“Well… We could take a little walk through the park before it’s not too hot outside. And then you need to see New York stuff, like Statue of Liberty, Empire State and we’ll see what else,” she smiles.

“Can’t wait to see it all… With you. I bet it’s gonna be the best day since I got here!”

“I hope. I’ll try. I love New York so I hope you’ll do too.”

“I think I will,” he smiles.

Then they’re quiet for a while. She doesn’t really know what to talk about but she doesn’t need to. She just smiles and enjoys looking into his eyes which is something she’ll never get tired of.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers after a while.

“Oh, stop!” she laughs and feels her cheeks getting warmer.

“And cute… When you’re blushing. I’ve noticed that yesterday already.”

“And you’re just too kind! And charming! I think you’re my prince Charming.”

“I can live with that,” he smiles, “And… I don’t know if I’ve already told you but… Thank you.”

“For what?” she asks with confusion in her voice.

“For… Making me happy,” he gives her a cute smile and runs his thumb across the back of her hand, “I was in a really bad place yesterday… On a verge of giving up and you just… Made me believe in myself… That I can do it.”

“Of course, you can do it! You can do anything you want. But don’t worry I’ll be here to remind you if you forget.”

“I’m really glad you will. Thank you.”

“Stop thanking me, Georgie. I’m glad I can help,” she smiles.

“Alright, guys, food’s coming,” Mike says as he’s making his way with two trails of food to them. He puts it down on the table, “Okay, here you go. Enjoy!” he smiles.

“Thanks, Mikey,” Lily smiles back and he walks away again.

“It smells amazing!” George says.

“I know! Tastes the same way too! Enjoy, Georgie.”

“You too.”

They start eating.

“This really tastes like home,” he says after few bites.

“Good. Glad you like it.”

“Mike clearly knows his food.”

“Not just his. He knows food from all over the world. He’s done a lot of traveling before opening this place. He’s been everywhere, basically. He always gives me tips on where to go eat when I travel.”

“That’s amazing! I would love to travel one day too.”

“You’re in New York, Georgie, far away from your home. That counts as traveling too,” she laughs.

“That’s true. But there’s still so many places I’d like to see too.”

“I’d love to see Scotland one day,” she smiles.

“I’ll take you there some day,” he winks at her before sipping from his cup of coffee.

“I’ll remember that.”

“What places you’ve been to anyway?”

“A lot,” she laughs, “I’ve already done a Europe trip exactly the same as I’m making this summer once. Then Ireland as I’ve already told you. I’ve been to Canada a few times. I was backpacking through Spain for two weeks last year. I spent last Christmas in Australia. And I’ve been all over US.”

“Oh, wow!”

“I know, it’s kinda crazy.”

“What’s your favourite place?”

“Home,” she smiles.

“Of course.”

“I mean, I love traveling. I loved all the places I’ve been to. But I’m always happy to come home.”

“I totally get that.”

“So… You’ve been married, huh?”

“Yeah. Didn’t really work,” he said with disappointment in his voice.

“Sorry… Shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, no, it’s okay. It just… Wasn’t meant to be,” he smiles, “She wasn’t as supportive as I imagined my wife to be,” he shrugs.

“I see.”

“What about you? Any interesting story with ex-boyfriend?” he asks with a curious smile.

“Not really. I don’t have time for boyfriend stuff,” she says sadly.

“You always have time for a boyfriend if you really want,” he winks.

She just sighs.

“Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out,” he gives her a reassuring smile and her heart just melts. “I would never imagine blogging would take so much time.”

“Blogging itself doesn’t take that much time. When I was just doing stuff around the blog, I had some free time but then we came up with a crazy idea to start our own fashion line and basically from the moment we came up with that, we never stop working. All the designing, putting the team together, setting up the studio, advertising and million things around that… Crazy! And we still have to make time for the blog, photoshooting campaigns for our partners and working out.”

“Oh my… You have so much work and you still go to gym?”

“Yeah, when I have time. Sometimes I just go jogging or just work out a bit at home.”

“You just amaze me!” he shakes his head in disbelieve.

“I need to look the certain way for all the photoshooting and it takes some work.”

“You look just perfect!”

“Thank you, Georgie!”

By that time they’re both finished with their breakfast and Mike’s already coming their way: “Was everything alright, guys?” he asks.

“Perfect, Mickey. As always,” she smiles at him.

“Delicious!” George says.

“Glad to hear.”

“Could you get us a bill, please, Mike? We’ll be heading out, we have big plans for today,” Lily says with a happy smile.

“Oh, really?”

She nods: “Yep. I’m giving a tour ‘round the city to George.”

“Wow! Lucky you, George. Lil’s the best tour guide you could have asked for!”

“Oh, trust me, Mike, I know.”

“Well, hello, I’m right here, guys!” she laughs.

“I’m sorry, little one. I’ll be right back with your bill.”

“Thanks.”

As a true gentleman, of course, George insists on paying for the breakfast. She thanks him with a big smile and they get up to leave.

“Have a great day, guys! And Lily… Stop by when you come back from Europe,” Mike says with a smile.

“Will do, Mickey. Thanks for the breakfast.”

“You’re very welcome. Hope to see you again, George.”

“Oh, trust me, you’ll see me again soon!” George laughs.

“Glad to hear,” Mike gives him a happy smile and they shake hands.

“And I see you in a month,” Lily says then and gives him a hug.

“Sure thing, Lil’. Take care and travel safe.”

“Always,” she winks at him.

Then she and George leave the café.

They cross the street to get to the Central Park. Then of the sudden, George stops and reaches for her hand to stop her too.  
"What's going on?" slips out from her mouth.  
"Nothing," he smiles as he wraps his arms around her waist, "Just wanted you closer for a bit."  
"Oh, you're so sweet, Georgie!" she smiles too and puts one hand on the back of his neck, the other on his shoulder. He leans in and kisses her. She's smiling into the kiss because she's just so happy.  
"I still can't believe it," he says when he pulls away after a while.  
"What?"  
"That you're here... With me," he shakes his head in disbelieve.  
She smiles.  
"How did I get so lucky? How did it happen?"  
"Destiny," she whispers and kisses him again.  
"You're perfect, you know that, right?" he asks then.  
She takes a deep breath and shakes her head: "I'm not, Georgie."  
"Why?" he wonders.  
She looks into his eyes and stays quiet for a moment. "Maybe I tell you later," she says then. And he probably notices the sadness in her eyes because suddenly he looks worried.  
But she just smiles: "Let's go. We have a lot to do," she intends to go but he just doesn't let her. He puts one hand on her cheek and runs his thumb across her cheek: "Well, no matter what, to me you are perfect," he says and kisses her, softly, gently, and slowly links her bottom lip. And she feels like she's gonna die. He pulls away but she doesn't open her eyes for a bit longer. In that moment she almost feels like saying 'I love you' to him. But she can't, of course she can't. Although she knows she just lost her heart...  
She opens her eyes. He's smiling.  
"C'mon. Let's go," she says and they get going.  
They walk through the Central Park hand in hand, slowly, they have the whole day. Of course they have a lot of things to see but there's no rush. No matter where they go, what they see, what places they visit, the only thing that matters to her is that they're together.


	3. Chapter 3

The whole day is just perfect. They actually get to see all the stuff Lily wanted him to see. They take the boat to Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty. They walk through the China Town and Soho where they have a delicious lunch from the food truck which Gorge loves because in that moment he really feels like experiencing New York. Then they go to the top of The Empire State to see the beauty of the whole city. They stay there a bit longer, just standing there, watching the buildings below, then kissing for a few minutes. Then some older guy makes a complain that they're standing in his view. They laugh at that but leave... Hand in hand.  
No matter where they are and what they're doing, they always talk... And talk... And talk. She just loves every new thing she finds out about him. He's such a gentleman. He's so sweet, kind, funny, caring, friendly to strangers, always tries to help when he can. He's also very smart, he knows stuff. He tells her so many things about Scotland and Ireland she didn't have any idea about and that just makes her want to go there more than ever... And she was always a good listener... So she just listens. And laughs when he tells her some funny story about one of the boys. It's clear that he adores every one of them and as he's the oldest from the group he's so protective and really cares about their well being like they're his responsibility. And it's probably the thing she adores the most about him. Apart from the fact that he's such a good kisser, of course.  
It's just 5 pm when they step out from The Empire State.  
"Darling?" he looks at her. Oh yeah, he calls her like that already and she just loves it. The Scottish accent makes his r's very distinct and it's just adorable!  
"Yeah?"  
"Would you mind if I quickly check on the boys in our apartment?" he asks. All of them share a big apartment in Brooklyn.  
"Of course I wouldn't," she smiles. It's so cute how much he actually worries about them.  
They head for the nearest subway station and as they're waiting on the train, Lily's phone starts ringing in her purse.  
"Oh, sorry," she smiles at him and finds her phone to accept the call.  
"Hey, ma," she says, already feeling guilty for not calling her when she didn't come home in the morning.  
"Hello, sweetheart. Are you okay?" her mom asks with worries in her voice.  
"Mama, I am. I really am. I'm so sorry I didn't call you."  
"It's alright, honey," she laughs with relieve, "I'm just glad you're okay. So... What you've been doing all day?"  
And Lily just doesn't know what to say, especially when George is standing right in front of her.  
Luckily her mom just knows her so well: "Oh my god! You met someone, didn't you?"  
"Oh, gee, ma! How do you know?" she laughs.  
"Well, I know you, baby... And I might have talked to Taylor."  
"Of course, you did!"  
"Are you still with him?"  
"Yes, mom, I'm still with him," she smiles and as George can hear her, he gives her almost terrified look, and she has to laugh.  
"Alright then... I'm making dinner right now so I want both of you to show up here in an hour or so, okay?"  
"But..."  
"I don't wanna hear any excuses, honey. I wanna meet him. I want somebody to be missing you with me while you're away!"  
"Okay, ma, seems like a good reason," she laughs.  
"Alright. See you in a bit."  
"See you," she says and hangs up.  
"What just happened?" George asks with confusion.  
She laughs: "My mum wants me to bring you for a dinner."  
"Oh my... Talk about pressure!"  
"Don't worry. She doesn't bite," she laughs.  
The train arrives, they get on and head for Brooklyn.  
In maybe 15 minutes they arrive at George's flat. He gets the key from his pocket and opens the door. As soon as he steps in, Lily can hear the boys shouting all at once.  
"Oh my God, George! Where have you been the whole day?" Keith asks.  
But then Lily steps inside too and they just laugh. "I see," Keith says with a smile.  
"Hey, guys," Lily says. But then she notices that all three of her fellow bloggers are actually sitting on the sofa in the middle of the room, giving her amused smiles.  
"You've got to be kidding me! What are you doing here?" she laughs.  
"Probably the same thing as you," Taylor says with a smile and winks at her.  
"Oh, shut up!" she says but laughs anyway.  
"Are you guys staying here?" Ryan asks them.  
"Do we have time?" George turns to her.  
"We can stay for a bit," she smiles at him, "I'd like to talk to Taylor anyway," she shoots her a quick look, "If you don't mind."  
"Of course. I'll go change my clothes... Need to look some kind of representative for a dinner with your parents," he smiles and kisses her forehead.  
Keith gives them a whistle.  
"Oh, behave, you!" George says but laughs while he makes his way into his room in the back of the apartment. Lily laughs too and then she looks at Taylor who just smiles back at her and gets up from the sofa to go talk to her. They go in the corner of the big room so they can talk in private.  
"So?" Taylor smiles, "You and George are getting serious, huh?"  
"Yeah," she smiles, "I think... I need a piece of advise from you."  
"What is it, babe?"  
"Do you think... I should tell him... You know..."  
"You know what I'm going to say, don't you? I still have the same opinion on this as I had the last time you met somebody. You already know that it just doesn't end well when you keep it as a secret, babe. I know it's hard for you to talk about her... But George seems like a nice guy and probably is according to what I know from what boys told me... He'll understand. Don't worry..."  
"Yeah... Easy to say, T. But I worry so much! I just... I think I can't loose him. I don't wanna..."  
"I know. And you won't loose him, babe! You didn't do anything... You just lost your sister."  
"Yeah, exactly. I just lost my sister and went insane."  
"It's not true, Lil'. You just missed her and you still do, it's normal. But he really should know."  
"Yeah, you're right. I just... Don't really know how to tell him something like that... That I'm that damaged... He thinks I'm perfect..."  
"And you are! Honey, please stop saying you're damaged. You're not! You're the exact opposite! You're strong, fearless! You're a beast!" she laughs and Lily has to smile, "And if George is as nice as Keith told me, he'll see that in you and he won't let you get away."  
Lily takes a deep breath: "Thanks, babe! You're my hero."  
"You're mine, babe!" she smiles and gives Lily a big hug.  
They turn to get back to others but Keith comes towards them with a big smile on his face.  
"What are you two whispering about?"  
"You don't need to know everything," Taylor laughs and slaps his shoulder. And Lily smiles because right away she knows there's something going on between them too.  
"So... You're taking our big George to see your parents, huh?" he smiles at Lily.  
"Yep," she nods, "My mum insisted."  
"Of course she did," Taylor says as she knows Lil's mum very well, then they both laugh.  
"Well, you should know that he just put on one of his better shirts so... You must be quite special to him," he winks at her with a smile. Then he just turns around to go sit at the sofa.  
"See! George clearly cares about you a lot. You've got nothing to worry about," Taylor gives her a reassuring smile.  
"I hope you're right."  
Then George comes out from his room and Lily just forgets how to breath. He wears a very fine pair of black jeans, perfect white shirt with both sleeves folded up above his elbows and an unbuttoned black vest. And if there's something she really loves men to wear it's exactly these kinds of vests. And Taylor knows it. So when Lily gives her a desperate look, she just gives her an amused smile and whispers: "Good luck!"  
Taylor heads back to the sofa and Lily walks towards George.  
He's smiling and he just looks so damn hot! How the hell can she resist him?! Well, why would she? So when they meet in the middle of the room, she just wraps her arms around his waist and gives him a big smile.  
"Well, hello, hot stuff!" she whispers.  
He laughs: "You think I look good?"  
"Oh my god, yes!" she smiles and kisses him.  
"Just get a room, already!" Keith laughs.  
"What did I tell you?!" George gives him a threatening look but smiles anyway.  
"You're so rude!" Taylor shakes her head, looking at Keith, but then she laughs.  
"So what did you guys do all day?" Neil asks them.  
"Lily gave me a tour around the city," George says with a happy smile.  
"No way! You lucky bastard! What did you see?" Keith asks.  
"Well, we ended the tour at the top of The Empire State so I basically saw the whole city. But we visited some places before that," he says, still holding Lily in his arms.  
"If you just tell me that you saw The Statue of Liberty, I'm gonna die from jealousy!" Keith shakes his head.  
"Well..." George smiles.  
"We're gonna miss you, Keith," Neil says and everybody laughs.  
"I bet Lily took you to Mike's for breakfast," Rose says when they stop laughing.  
George nods.  
"What's that?" Emmet asks.  
"Just the best place to go for a breakfast in the city," Lily answers and smiles as George randomly kisses her temple.  
"It's really amazing, guys. You should go," George says.  
"Then you have to take us there!" Keith says.  
"Maybe I will. If you behave!" he smiles and winks at him.  
"I swear I will... Dad!" Keith jokes and George just shakes his head and laughs.  
Then Lily notices the time on the clock on the wall: "We should get going, Georgie. My mum's gonna be furious when we're late."  
"Well, then we should really get going," he smiles but looks a bit nervous.  
"Have fun, guys!" Keith smiles.  
"See, that's better," George says as they make their way to the door.  
"Good luck with your first impression, big G.!" Keith winks at him with amused smile and George just shoots him a look. Lily laughs.  
"I'll call you tomorrow, babe, about our errands," Taylor says.  
"Sure thing, T. See ya. Bye guys!" she smiles at the boys and they say their goodbyes to her too. Then she and George leave the flat.  
"Keith is just amazing!" she laughs on their way to the subway station.  
"I know. Sometimes he can be a bit annoying but he always means well."  
"Didn't seem annoying to me. I like the way he was teasing you."  
"Well, thank you," he laugh.  
"I like the way he makes you smile. You adore him, don't you?" she looks at him with a smile.  
"Oh, of course I do! You know... He was the very first person I met after I moved to Dublin. And I was so scared, I didn't know anybody there. But then I met Keith and he helped me with stuff, showed me the city and we just became friends. It's hard not to adore him."  
"Seems like he's a really nice guy!"  
"Yeah, he really is!"  
"I guess Taylor thinks it too," she smiles.  
"You noticed too, huh?" he laughs.  
"Oh, honey, I would need to be blind not to notice," she laughs too but then she actually realises what she said and doesn't really know what to do or say next. Luckily they get to the subway station and as the train is just arriving, they need to fight through the crowd and get on. When they're on the train and the door closes, she just hopes he's gonna ignore what she said but he wraps his arms around her and smiles: "I like when you called me honey."  
She laughs: "Maybe I'll do it more often then," she winks at him and he kisses her. And she's just so happy that it wasn't awkward at all!  
They get out from the train on the Manhattan, just one block from where she lives and they get there in only a few minutes.  
"Are you nervous?" she asks him when they're in the elevator on the way to the seventh floor.  
"Of course I am. What if they won't like me?"  
"They are going to like you, Georgie!"  
"But I'm so much older than you," he looks so scared.  
"Stop, honey!" she smiles and kisses him on the cheek, "Everything's gonna be just fine."  
She won't admit that she's actually nervous too. She has never brought anyone to the dinner with her parents. Anything can happen. But she just tries to look cool, like nothing's going on. No big deal. Except it is... A big deal for her!  
When they get out from the elevator, she takes a deep breath and finds keys in her bag. Before she opens the door, she gives George a smile and a little nod. Then they come in.  
Immediately she sees her older brother Jack preparing the table for the dinner. He notices them and smiles: "Hey guys! You're just on time," he says and goes to greet them.  
"Hey, Jackie," she smiles and gives him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek, "This is George. Georgie, this is my brother Jack."  
"Big and overprotective brother Jack at your service! Good to meet you, George," he says and reaches one hand to George.  
"I'll remember that overprotective part, Jack, good to meet you too!" he says with a smile as he shakes Jack's hand. Lily smiles but she knows that Jack is actually so overprotective that it almost scares her sometimes. Especially since her sister died. She just hopes that he's not gonna say something George still doesn't know and should find out from her not her brother.  
"Hey, baby boo, you know dad was quite pissed off when you didn't show up in the morning?" Jack says to her sympathetically.  
"Well, thank you for the info, babe, nothing I can do about it now, right? Where is he?"  
"In his office, I think."  
"Oh, hello there," her mom comes out from the kitchen with a big smile on her face.  
"Hi, ma," Lily smiles.  
"Jack, since when you are the greeting committee in this household?" his mum asks him.  
"He's getting better at that," Lily laughs and gives her mum a hug and receives a kiss on the forehead.  
"You scared me today, baby."  
"I'm sorry, mum," she says with an apologetic smile, "This is George. And this is my mum," she introduces them.  
"Nice to meet you, George."  
"Nice to meet you, madam. Sorry for keeping Lily busy the whole day," he smiles.  
"Oh, it's okay. Not your fault really," she laughs, "And please, call me Jennifer."  
"Alright, Jennifer," he nods.  
"Is she finally here?" Lily hears the voice of her dad and her knees start shaking.  
"Good luck surviving this, baby sis," Jack whispers.  
"Jack, watch it!" his mum says and gives him an angry look.  
Then Lily's dad appears in the room: "Oh, there she is! Our only daughter," he says and it just hurts so much.  
"John, please," Jennifer says and gives him a concerned look, "You know she didn't do it on purpose!"  
"Yeah, of course. But she knows she has to let us know that she's alright because we are her parents and we are worried about her."  
"Dad, please, stop!" she says, her voice is shaking. She already regrets bringing George into this mess.  
"Yes, John, stop! No need for this. And we have a guest," he mum says calmly.  
"Yeah, I'm the bad guy here. Right!" her dad says, turns around and goes back to his home office. Lily just sighs.  
"Sorry about that, George," Jennifer smiles at him, "Baby, go get change and then go get talk to your father. We'll keep George busy," she winks at Lily.  
"Thanks, mum," she says, gives George a smile and heads to her room to change her clothes. She puts on her favourite blue shirt and white jeans. Then she heads for her dad's office. She knocks on the door and comes in. Her dad is standing by the window, looking outside, but when he hears the door, he turns to face her. She closes the door behind her and comes towards him.  
"I'm sorry, dad," she whispers.  
"No... I'm sorry, baby girl. I just exaggerate sometimes. You know me... I was just really worried about you."  
And Lily just goes to hug him. He holds her tight in his arms and kisses her hair.  
"So... You're in love, huh?" he asks with a smile.  
"Dad! It's too soon to tell!"  
"Oh, please! You've never brought anyone here. That guy must be really special."  
She pulls away a bit to look into his eyes: "Well, he is."  
"Good. We won't go for anything less than that," he winks at her and she just laughs.  
"C'mon dad, I'll introduce him to you. Please, just... Don't scare him off," she laughs but she means it.  
"I'm not even capable of such a thing!"  
"Yeah, right!" she says and they both laugh as they're making their way into the big room.  
They find everyone by the bar in the kitchen, each with the glass of wine.  
"Look at that! They're drinking without us!" he dad says to her but they can hear it too.  
"Rude!" she says with fake anger.  
"Good to see you two have made up," Jennifer smiles.  
"How could I stay angry at our little girl?!" Jack says and kisses Lily on the forehead.  
"Please, dad, stop embarrassing me!" she laughs, looking at George who's giving her a cute smile.  
"Anyway, dad... This is George. And this is my dad," she says then.  
"Pleasure to meet you, George. For you, I'm Jack."  
"My pleasure, Jack," George smiles and they shake hands.  
"Sorry about the earlier. But you know... It's my job as a dad to worry."  
"Of course. Sorry I didn't bring her home earlier."  
"Well, you get better next time."  
"Dad, what did I tell you?!" Lily whispers.  
"I'm not scaring him off, baby. I'm just... Saying."  
"Oh god!" she feels her cheeks getting warmer.  
"Okay, let's eat!" her mum saves her from more embarrassment.  
"I'll help you, ma," she says.  
"Thanks, sweetheart. Go sit down, guys, food be there right away."  
Lily helps her mum to take all the food to the table. Then they all sit down and start eating.


	4. Chapter 4

The dinner goes smoothly. Just after few minutes, Lily stops being nervous because it is obvious that George and her family are getting on just fine. George also looks like he's having fun and that makes Lily so happy. She would never want to make him feel uncomfortable.  
They always have things to talk about and there are no awkward moments which is definitely a good thing.  
After they're all finish with their plates, Lily helps her mum to get the dishes from the table. Then they refill the glasses with wine and they just sit and talk.  
George reaches for her hand to hold under the table and she gives him a happy smile. But then her father says: "Can we talk about the elephant in the room?" and her smile drops. She turns to her father with an absolute terror in her eyes.   
"I prefer we wouldn't," she says quietly.  
"So George still doesn't know?" John asks.  
She shakes her head: "Not yet."  
"What should I know?" George asks, confused.  
"Nothing," she says without thinking and gives him a reassuring smile.  
"It's okay, darling," he smiles back, "Just tell me when you're ready," he says and leans in to kiss her cheek.   
"Okay, George, I think you just prove that you can meet my high expectation for someone who can date my daughter," John says with a smile, "Congratulations!"  
"Thank you, John," George laughs.  
"Oh my god, did you just really say that?" Lily asks her dad, shaking her head. But then she just laughs.  
Then they talk a bit more till they're all finished with their glasses. And that's when Lily just gets up from her chair, takes George's hand and with quick: "We'll be in my room if you need anything," she just leads him there and closes the door behind them. George laughs while she's leading him on the small sofa in the back corner of the room.  
"What an amazing room you've got," he says as he sits down.  
"Thanks, Georgie," she smiles and snuggle up at the sofa by his side, "Thank you," she says again and kisses his cheek, "You are amazing!"  
"No, YOU are amazing!" he says and leans in to gently kiss her lips, "You got that from your parents, I guess. They're pretty cool," he says then.  
"They are. I told you they're gonna like you, didn't I?" she smiles.  
"Yeah. I was actually almost surprised how well that went. Are they always so cool to your boyfriends? Or am I THAT good?" he winks at her and she laughs: "Well, or course you are THAT good! But you are also the only guy I've ever brought to the dinner with my parents."  
"No way!" he almost whispers.  
She nods: "I've always had a bad luck. I mean... Until I met you."  
"It's hard to believe... When you're so perfect."  
"I'm not perfect, Georgie," she sighs, "I... I think... You should really know something," she finally finds enough courage to tell him.  
"What is it, darling?"  
"Two things... Before I tell you. First... I'm probably gonna cry while telling you so I'm sorry for that in advance. And second... After I tell you... If you feel like you don't wanna deal with something like that... If you feel like leaving... I won't stop you... I'll understand."  
"Why would I leave?"  
"You wouldn't be the first."  
He shakes his head in disbelieve: "Don't worry, darling, just tell me."  
"Okay," she takes a deep breath, "I'm so scared."  
"Don't be! Look... I've already told you today that you are perfect to me, no matter what... And nothing will ever change that! Just tell me," he leans in and kisses her forehead.  
"Alright... Where should I start? Well... I had a sister," she says and takes a deep breath. He just pulls her closer and kisses her hair and stays quiet.  
She continues: "We were twins. And she... Just meant the whole world to me. Everything we did, we did together. We went to school together, we had the same hobbies, we even had crush on the same boys... We were sisters but also best friends," she needs to take another deep breath as she feels her voice is starting to shake, but she keeps talking: "Just a few weeks before our high school graduation, she got diagnosed with leukaemia... And it just turned life of everyone in this family around... She was so brave! Braver than me! I was so scared when the doctors told us. I was so scared about what's gonna happen. But she was so determined to fight, to win... To survive," by that time she feels tears in her eyes, "Plans for collage went aside for both, her and me. I'd never leave her side... Every time she went to hospital, I was there with her, holding her hand. She went through the chemo and the doctors were saying that it really works and she's getting better. I started believing that maybe it's just gonna end well, she'll be alright... When she went office chemo, we started making plans again. That's when she came up with the idea of starting the blog together. She was so keen to start blogging, I couldn't say no to her," she smiles a little, "After just a two weeks the blog was popular. And she was so happy, so proud of us... She loved blogging," she needs to take a deep breath because she knows the worst part is coming, "For a few months everything was great. Everything seemed... normal. I was happy I got her back... But then... It all started again. She got so much worse out of the sudden. She was hospitalized and she never left the hospital again," she runs her hand across her cheeks to wipe the tears away. He kisses her on the temple and she continues: "She was there almost two months, she never got better... With every other day I was losing more and more hope. And yet... I was never ready to say goodbye, to let her go... I was never prepare for losing her."  
"You can't ever be prepared for something like that," he whispers.   
"I know... But some says that when... You know it's gonna happen... Sooner or later... When you're expecting this... It's easier," she closes her eyes to let the tears flow down her cheeks.  
"It's never easy to loose somebody. And you can't expect something like that. You always have to hope."  
"Yeah, I was really trying not to lose hope... But in her last days... I just... I could see how tired she is... She couldn't fight it anymore. In the end I was staying there with her 24/7. I couldn't leave... In case... You know... One evening... She was feeling a bit better. She insisted we have to talk about stuff we wanna do when they relies her from the hospital. For a moment I was hoping again... We were planning things, we were laughing, we were happy... She died the next day," she closes her eyes again and takes a deep breath. He pulls her closer and she puts her head on his shoulder. He starts gently rubbing her hair.  
"I'm so sorry to hear that, darling. It must have been very hard for you," he says.  
She looks into his eyes. She's so afraid to tell him more...  
"I..." she starts but her voice breaks.  
She sighs: "I tried... To kill myself," she says so quickly and closes her eyes. She can't even look at him. She's quiet, she just waits... She expects him to just get up and leave... Everyone always leaves when they find out.  
But not him... He just leans in to kiss her forehead and whispers: "Tell me what happened, baby."  
She opens her eyes and looks at him with her teary eyes. He gives her a little sympathetic smile.  
She takes a deep breath: "I... I was just... So lost. I didn't know what to do. I though… I knew… I can’t do it… The life… Without her. I felt like… The part of me was gone… The most important part… The one I just couldn’t live without. So I… Took some pills… A lot,” her voice breaks again. She never told this to anyone. It’s just too hard to talk about this… To admit… How weak she was.

“Oh, baby,” he whispers, “It’s alright,” he hides her in his arms and she just cries. "Ssh, baby, it's alright," he kisses her hair. And she feels so bad... But also so good... Because this is helping her so much. HE is helping her so much.  
After a while she looks up and into his eyes: "I hated myself for doing that... So much! I still do."  
"Why?"  
"It was so selfish!" she shakes her head, "Jack found me... I... I didn't even think about them when I did that. What... Would happen to them if... You know... I... Disappointed them... I disappointed myself. Flo... My sister... Would be disappointed."  
"She wouldn't, baby. I mean... You've got better, haven't you?"  
"Yeah... Because of her."  
"What do you mean?"  
"When I was still in the hospital, my mum gave me a letter... Flo wrote it just a few days before passing away... She... She just wrote how much she wants me to go on... To keep blogging... To keep living... Even now... When I have a bad day... When I feel down... I read it... And it just... Pushes me to... Fight... For her."  
"She would be proud of you, darling."  
"That's what I'm trying to accomplish... Every day."  
"And you're doing amazing!" he says and kisses the tip of her nose. She smiles.

 


End file.
